Prevalence, antibiotic resistance, and toxigenic gene profile of the Clostridium difficile isolated from molluscan shellfish

AbstractClostridium difficile strains are considered as one of the newly borne foodborne pathogens regarding the consumption of seafood products. The present study was done to assess the antibiotic resistance pattern and toxigenic gene profile of theC. difficile strains isolated from shellfish samples. Eight ‐hundred and twenty oyster, mussel, cockle, and clam samples were collected and cultured.Clostridiumdifficile isolates were subjected to polymerase chain reaction disk diffusion. Twenty ‐six out of 820 (3.17%) shellfish samples were positive forC. difficile. Mussel (5.00%) and oyster (4.00%) were the most commonly contaminated samples.Clostridiumdifficile strains exhibited the highest prevalence of resistance against ampicillin (92.30%), penicillin (84.61%), amoxicillin (76.92%), moxifloxacin (65.38%), and metronidazole (57.69%). Prevalence of resistance against more than eight types of antibiotics was 15.38%.TcdA (50%),tcdB (30.76%), andcdtA (30.76%) were the most commonly detected toxigenic genes.Clostridiumdifficile strains harbored the highest prevalence oftcdA +tcdB (23.07%),tcdA +cdtA (19.23%),tcdB +cdtA (15.38%), andtcdA +tcdB +cdtA (11.53%) gene clusters. Shellfish samples have been considered as a potential source of toxigenic multidrug resistantC. difficile. Simultaneous presence of multiple toxigenic genes in the multidrug resistantC. difficile strains poses an important public health issue regarding the consumption of raw and shellfish.Practical applicatio...
Source: Journal of Food Safety - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research